Public Outreach and CRM: A Successful Partnership at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park in Dallas County, Alabama

Summary

This is an abstract from the ""Is There Gold in that Field?" CRM and Public Outreach on the Front Lines" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Over the summers of 2016 and 2017, two divisions within the University of Alabama Museums Department helped create successful outreach programs in Dallas County, Alabama, with the support of some strategic partners, namely the Alabama Historical Commission, among others. The Office of Archaeological Research was contracted by the Alabama Historical Commission to conduct a multifocal archaeological program due in part to the focus on the 200th anniversary celebration of statehood at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park. Multiple geophysical surveys were conducted to find the footprint of Alabama First State House, which was commissioned to be constructed by Alabama’s first governor, William Wyatt Bibb, in 1819. This geophysical project led to excavations of the footprint of the state house by the Office of Archaeological Research in 2016 and the Alabama Museum of Natural History Expedition in 2017. Public archaeology was incorporated into the research designs resulting in Public Archaeology and Artifacts Days, which included lectures and hands-on learning. Portions of the summer projects were also filmed by the Emmy-award winning crew of *Discovering Alabama for an episode on Alabama’s state capitals.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• "Is There Gold in that Field?" CRM and Public Outreach on the Front Lines

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32992